Sir Alex Ferguson hit back strongly yesterday at attacks from Kenny Dalglish
and Graham Taylor over his attitude towards referees.

The Manchester United manager faces a Football Association charge for criticising Martin Atkinson after the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Feb 28, claiming he “feared the worst” as soon as he learned the official would be in charge.

Dalglish, his Liverpool counterpart, and Taylor, the former England head coach, suggested he should keep his opinions to himself.

But Ferguson, writing in his programme notes before yesterday’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final, said “people have short memories”. He rebuffed the complaints of Dalglish, who had argued, “You think the ones who shout loudest get the more beneficial decisions” and took a swipe at Taylor’s allegation of “rank hypocrisy”.

“Kenny Dalglish looked to be lecturing me in the papers about the need to respect referees, perhaps forgetting that not so long ago his players were tweeting critically all over the place about Howard Webb,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson insisted that Taylor’s accusation did not bear comparison with his behaviour in the England job during a World Cup qualifying defeat by Holland in 1994.

“I was disappointed with Graham Taylor, who wrote that I had to take 'the rough with the smooth’,” Ferguson said. “I think back to when he was England manager and was complaining to a linesman, 'The referee has got me the sack’.”

While United will go into today’s draw for the semi-finals, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger must figure out how to lift his side after another debilitating defeat at the end of a torrid fortnight. His task was made harder last night when it emerged that Johan Djourou will not play again this season because he dislocated a shoulder at Old Trafford.